NAPLES, Fla. — Tropical Storm Fay rolled ashore in southwestern Florida on Tuesday without much fanfare but stubbornly hung around like an unwelcome house guest, maintaining strength and again threatening to become a hurricane.
The storm first hit the Florida Keys, veered out to sea and then traversed east across the state on a path that would curve it toward to the Florida-Georgia border. The failure of Fay to weaken meant a whole new swath of the state had to prepare for a worse storm, and meant Florida could wind up getting hit three separate times.
“This storm is going to be with us for a while. That’s obvious now. It looks it could be a boomerang storm,” Gov. Charlie Crist said at a news conference.
Earlier in the day, it had appeared that Fay would simply peter out and perhaps bring nothing but heavy rains to the southeastern United States. But by late Tuesday, a hurricane watch was posted for parts of north Florida and Georgia as Fay seemed to be resurrected by the flat, swampy Everglades, increasing the chances it could still end up strengthening into a hurricane. Its top sustained winds increased for several hours during the day and peaked at 65 mph, before dropping to 50 mph late Tuesday. A hurricane has winds of at least 74 mph.
Forecasters expected the storm to get a dose of energy today when it moves over the Atlantic Ocean, where it could reach hurricane strength.
Fay formed over the weekend in the Atlantic and was blamed for 14 deaths in the Carribean before hitting Florida.
